Job's Trials

Era: Patriarchs
Date: c. 2000-1800 BC (traditionally dated to the patriarchal era)
Reference: Job 1:13-22

In a heavenly scene unseen by Job himself, Satan challenges God that Job's righteousness is merely a product of his prosperity, and God permits a series of catastrophes to test that claim - Job loses his oxen, sheep, camels, servants, and finally all ten of his children in a single day, followed later by painful boils covering his entire body. Through it all Job refuses to curse God, famously declaring 'the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD,' though the chapters that follow record his agonized wrestling with unexplained suffering. The book that bears his name remains Scripture's most sustained meditation on undeserved suffering and the difference between explaining it and simply trusting the God who allows it.

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Key Passage

Job's Trials

Job 1:13-22

A¹³nd there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house:

¹⁴ And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them: ¹⁵ And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. ¹⁶ While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. ¹⁷ While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. ¹⁸ While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house: ¹⁹ And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee. ²⁰ Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, ²¹ And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. ²² In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

Read full chapter: Job 1 →

Meanwhile in the World

Egypt's Old Kingdom builds the pyramids (c. 2600-2100 BC). Mesopotamia is dominated by Akkad and then Ur III. The Indus Valley civilization flourishes. Stonehenge is being constructed in Britain. This is the era of the great ziggurats and the first law codes (Ur-Nammu).

When: c. 2100 - 1800 BC

Key Civilizations: Ur III (Sumer), Old Kingdom Egypt

Biblical Parallels: Genesis 12-50

Job's Trials

Key Passage

Job's Trials

Meanwhile in the World

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